The Brothers Karamazov

I actually finished the Brothers Karamazov soon after Spring Break. However, I'm still trying to untangle and work out some of the details of the story that I missed the first times through, so for now I'll talk about some of the parts of the story that jumped out at me. The first major part of the book that had an affect on me was when Ivan was talking about the torture of innocent young children. I found this part of the book hard to read because it was so graphic. Ivan gave several examples of torture. One was about a baby being killed by a gun. The baby was first made to believe the gun was a toy, and smiled and reached for it when the trigger was pulled. This was one of the most cruel things any human could do, especially to an innocent baby. Also, Ivan mentioned the tale of a young boy who was torn to shreds by dogs. One of Ivan's main points in this chapter is the fact that children have done absolutely nothing to deserve torture.
Some examples of what Ivan has to say on the subject:

-Why, the whole world of knowledge is not worth that child's prayer to 'dear, kind God!' I say nothing of the sufferings of grown-up people, they have eaten the apple, damn them, and the devil take them all! But these little ones!

-Listen! If everyone must suffer, in order to buy eternal harmony with their suffering, pray tell me what have children got to do with it? It's quite incomprehensible why they should have to suffer, and why they should buy harmony with their suffering.

Ivan's point is something I've never before thought of when dealing with the question of God. What kind of God would allow the torture of little children? His point is valid in a way, and I think that's why it is hard for Alyosha to respond to Ivan's view. Alyosha is a very religious person, but it would be hard for anyone to defend God who permits this kind of torture.